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nook

August 31, 2010 in Uncategorized, books, review, tech by spinstah | 2 comments

When the debut of the Amazon Kindle started to revive the e-reader and e-book market, I started paying more attention to what was going on in that little world. Not with the intention of buying a reader anytime soon, but because I like gadgets, and I’m a librarian, and I had the thought of “someday, when the DRM is all sorted out, I’ll get one.”

Well, the DRM hasn’t been “all sorted out” (ha!) but someday came this spring, when the idea of buying a Kindle cheap on ebay was planted in my brain, and ferociously took root. Ultimately I didn’t get one, as none of the listings I saw were inexpensive enough. But, this happened in the spring, and my parents were looking for a gift worthy of a milestone birthday. So, I started to look into the possibilities. I had two requirements: I wanted something that could seamlessly download my subscriptions to The New Yorker and The New York Times, and I wanted something that could handle the standard epub format (which means it can be used with Overdrive, a system libraries use to lend out digital content like ebooks and audio books, and I can also purchase ebooks from a variety of sources). This immediately put the Kindle out of the running. My intent here is not to knock it, as I know several people who have one and love it. But it wasn’t going to work for me.

At that point I started to look at the nook and the Sony Reader line. There are several models of Sony Readers at this point, and they can all read the standard epub format. But only one can also seamlessly download subscriptions. The nook can do both of these things, and had the added bonus of being about half the price as that Sony Reader (at the time at least, the price on the nook has actually gone down*, and the Sony Readers may have as well). So, we had a decision. Read the rest of this entry »

Recent Recipes

August 28, 2010 in cooking, food, review by spinstah | No comments

Capsule reviews of a few yummy things I’ve made lately (and by “lately” I do mean that one of these goes back to May):

Spicy Zucchini Soup: This was quite yummy and very easy to make. I didn’t find it to be particularly spicy (not even a kick) so next time I’ll use the entire jalapeno. And I think I put in more cilantro than it calls for, but that’s never a bad thing. The consistency is a little on the thick side, due to the bread, but I liked it nonetheless. And it’s good hot, chilled, or somewhere in between. Also very yummy with a side of corn on the cob.

Ratatouille: As a I made this recipe from Epicurious, recommended by my friend Abby, it occurred to me that in my cookbooks I probably have at least one recipe for ratatouille. Anyway, this is pretty easy, just a lot of chopping, and you can adjust the quantities of vegetables to your taste. I enjoyed it but when I ate the leftovers I found myself picking around the eggplant cubes, as they were quite soggy. This is the kind of thing that I think benefits from the veggies being a little crisp, so next time I think I’ll skip the part where you cook the eggplant alone a little bit (unless there is some compelling reason not to, hive mind?).

Basil Puree: From a pizza recipe in one of my cookbooks, this is a very loose pesto made with only basil, olive oil and garlic (and a pinch of salt). Lovely bright flavor.

Roasted Garlic, Caramelized Leek and Bacon Pizza: Very subtle smoky flavors, which I punched up with the basil puree. And I have to say, you haven’t lived until you have smelled leeks cooking in bacon fat.

Speaking of roasted garlic, I’m not about to turn on my oven in the summer just for the sole purpose of roasting garlic. So instead I put my google-fu to work and came up with this: roasted garlic on the stovetop. Keeping the paper/skin on your cloves, break off however many you need and put them in a dry frying pan over low heat. Turn them occasionally, trying to get them browned on each side. When they’re squishy, they’re done. Worked like a charm.

Ham Salad: I can’t think that I ever had ham salad before I made this, but I’m sure I must have at some point. In any case I made this primarily becuase I had a ham steak from our coop this fall/winter that I had been keeping in mind as I was a little at a loss as to what to do with it. So, when I spotted this recipe on a food blog feed I figured I’d give it a try. Overall it was yummy, but I’m not sure how much I like ham salad, so I probably won’t make it again. That said, the dressing is delicious and I think would make a fantastic egg salad or potato salad.

BLT Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette: Why did it never occur to me to turn my favorite sandwich into a salad!? Delicious! As I recall, I did end up adding some additional vinegar to the dressing, as when I followed the instructions it didn’t come out very tangy.

Mexican Chopped Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing: I make a lot of taco salads in the summer, and I bookmarked this mainly for the dressing, which is quite yummy.

Carmelized Leek Risotto: This was yummy, very light delicate flavor.

Israeli Couscous with Asparagus, Peas and Sugar Snaps: Wonderful lemony flavor that I still think about. The sugar snaps I had when I made this weren’t particularly good, so if you can’t get good ones just omit them. Maybe throw on some shrimp or scallops if you want some protein.

The Month in Books: July 2010

August 1, 2010 in books, review by spinstah | No comments

Here’s what I completed in July 2010. Links below take you to my reviews on Goodreads.com.

Nope, that’s not a typo, I read two books by Richard Russo last moth — one for each book club. I liked Empire Falls better.

WiMax, Take Two

June 22, 2010 in internet, review by spinstah | No comments

Back in February of 2009, I attempted and failed to sign up for Xohm, Sprint’s WiMax service. My overall experience led me to believe that the service wasn’t quite ready to be launched — coverage in Baltimore wasn’t all that widespread, and the Mac support was entirely given over to their developer network, in a lame attempt to get other people to do the work they should have done before launching. I returned the modem I’d bought, griped about the experience online, and soon thereafter Xohm disappeared from view.

It turns out that a company called Clearwire had bought Xohm from Sprint, and they stopped taking new subscribers while they did things like expanding the network and making sure the software and hardware was compatible with the Mac OS. How sensible. They also eliminated the need to install any software on your computer in order to use the service (Xohm required some crazy widget/app thing, for no apparent reason). The pricing for the service, now called Clear, is still smack in my price range ($30 or $40) for basic home service. It’s a little more for a subscription that works with a USB modem that you can take with you anywhere, and you can also bundle voice with any of the plans. One especially nice touch is that you have a choice of a two-year contract and leasing the modem, or a month-to-month contract for which you buy the modem outright. I went with the latter, because if I’m going to wind up paying for the modem anyway, I might as well do it up front and not have to deal with a contract. Read the rest of this entry »

The Month in Books: April & May

June 4, 2010 in books, review by spinstah | No comments

So, apparently I don’t really blog anymore. Interesting.

Anyway, here’s what I read in April and May. Whole lotta not much. Links below take you to my reviews on Goodreads.com.

I also attempted to read Gentlemen of the Road, by Michael Chabon, but was foiled by Adobe Digital Editions. (Oh did I mention? I got a nook for my birthday. More on that once I manage to read something other than the NY Times or the New Yorker on it.)

Q1 in Books: January – March 2010

April 21, 2010 in books, review by spinstah | No comments

I knew it had been a while since I had updated with what I’ve read lately, but I had no idea I hadn’t at least done January. Whoops.

I also abandoned Snow, by Orhan Pamuk, and have spent most of April so far either not reading or catching up on a big stack of New Yorkers.

Capsule Reviews . . .

April 1, 2010 in cooking, food, review by spinstah | No comments

. . . of a few things (mostly soups) I’ve made recently. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had the time or inclination to blog more about these, and at this point some of them aren’t all that fresh in my mind. So, this is what you get!

Cabbage, Chickpea and Chorizo Soup was good, but would have been better without the cabbage — it didn’t seem to meld with the rest of the dish. Also, most of the broth was sucked up by the chickpeas. If you make this, chop the cabbage small. I did pieces about half the size of what the recipe called for, and they were still too big.

Rustic Cabbage Soup is for people who really like cabbage. Next time I think I’ll just make a bunch of coleslaw. It was OK but I don’t think I’ll make it again.

Sweet Potato, Sausage and Kale Soup was excellent!

Apple & Parsnip Soup was ok. The flavors didn’t seem to meld together very well. Maybe it’s better if you use granny smith apples, as called for, instead of whatever random apples you happen to have on hand?

Cream of Carrot with Ginger Soup was very yummy and easy.

Sweet Potato Soup with Miso and Ginger was good but would have been better with less ginger — it really overwhelemed the flavor. Also, I couldn’t find miso. I think I just left it out.

Chicken Fried Rice had a very light flavor. It needed a little oomph, I thought.

Spicy Parsnip Soup is so yummy, even when you make it with turnips instead.

Brunch Ring

February 1, 2010 in baking, cooking, food, review by spinstah | 2 comments

This was the other dish I made for my January brunch, and is yet another recipe from the January 2010 Vegetarian Times. This one was a big hit. Tasted great, looked impressive, and was easy to make. Essentially, it’s a tofu scramble encased in puff pastry. In this case the scramble uses some Indian spices, but you could really use any favorite tofu scramble recipe, so long as the volume is about the same.

In terms of wrapping the pastry around the scramble, I learned a couple of things — there will probably be a few extra pieces of crescent roll dough, and it works best to shape and mold the scramble, rather than just try to pile it on. I had trouble getting the points of the dough all the way around and underneath the ring, so I just pulled them into the middle and poked at them in hopes that this would work, and it did.

I didn’t modify this recipe a whole lot — in this case I just changed the spicing. As written the recipe is vegan, and calls for 1/4 C nutritional yeast. After some online research and a chat with the lovely SparkleJ, I decided to omit it and just include more spices. Since the recipe called for turmeric, I poked around and decided to add in some ground ginger, coriander and cumin. (In reality this meant I could have just used the curry powder in my cabinet, but I thought of this too late.)

This can be made ahead — you can do the whole thing right up to baking and then just chill it in the fridge overnight, covered loosely with plastic wrap or foil. I didn’t do that since I had enough time to make it before my guests came, but if you have folks staying over, this might be a nice thing to be able to offer pretty quickly in the morning.

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Tofu Tagine

January 27, 2010 in cooking, review by spinstah | No comments

This was a quick and tasty dinner that was quite easy to put together. The recipe comes from a little book of Rachel Ray recipes. Despite the fact that I find her annoying as a TV personality, she makes some good food. This book is also the source of my turkey chili. I haven’t made a lot of the things in it, but what I have made has turned out well and been quite good. I came across the recipe will trolling through the indexes of my smaller cookbooks, looking for inspiration. I tend to cook primarily from recipes I find online, and treat my cookbook collection more as a reference tool. This was a great reminder that I need to make more use of them!

In this particular case, I did make a significant modification of the recipe, which is actually called Quick Tagine-Style Chicken with Couscous. I feel like I’ve been eating a lot of meat lately, and I wanted to make this vegetarian. So, I subbed in some tofu and I think it worked out quite well. Below is the modified recipe; if you want to do chicken you would just start by browning 1 3/4 lbs. of cubed chicken breast.

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Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

January 25, 2010 in cooking, review by spinstah | No comments

This is the second casserole I made from the January 2010 Vegetarian Times. This one I made to take to a meeting/party, and so I doubled it. One thing I was reminded of is the magic of baking something like this, which changes and improves the flavor — I tasted the individual components as I went, and found that I was not that impressed. In the end, people said they liked it and it did taste pretty good. I should note that I omitted the beans, mainly because I forgot to prep some (I do beans from dried) and didn’t have time to do it when I was actually making the casserole. I should also note that I didn’t have any wine on hand, so I used vegetable broth. Lastly, I subbed dried herbs for fresh, which might also have affected the final flavor. I also think that the bottom filling needs something else — somehow the lovely flavor of the leeks that I expected didn’t come through. Mine were about a week old by the time I used them, but they seemed fine, so I’m not sure if that’s the problem or if it’s in the combination of flavors (maybe increase the leeks and decrease the onions?). Overall I didn’t dislike this, but I’m not sure I’ll make it again. It will probably depend on whether I come up with any good ideas for modifying it and improving the flavor. (Ideas?) Regardless, I think this is definitely a side dish and not a meal in and of itself, whether or not you include the beans.

As I made this recipe, it struck me why people say that they can’t cook, even when they follow the recipe as written. Some recipes just aren’t written that well, and this was one of them. The proportions seemed a bit off (made me glad I’d grabbed an extra sweet potato just for the heck of it) — as written, you wouldn’t have very much sweet potato topping to work with. In the magazine, the recipe calls for “1 medium sweet potato (1/4 lb).” I found that the smallest ones at my grocery store were 1/2″ lb., so I’m guessing that the author didn’t actually weigh the potato, but perhaps just guessed after the fact. This recipe also didn’t include an instruction to preheat the oven at the start, which I’m sure will cause problems for some cooks.
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